Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-02-12
A HORRIBLE DISEASE.
Tha Strange Case of Rachel solomon-Her
Stomach and Sy stem Full of Worms.


plant that had been given various names
by physicians, but any treatment that had
been given had been followed by purely
negative result. She was very much
emacisted. The muscular tissue had
been nearly all absorbed TO support
life, and there was nothing left but the
skin and bones, and poor bones at that.
She was patient little thing, and the
orly expression that she ever gave of her
suffering was in her black eyes, which
seemed abnormal in size in contrast with
her thin face, and these had pleading
look as they turned to the fsce of the
wise men who gathered around her as if
begging for relief. Rachel had been
SICK FOR OVER TWO YEARS.
She had & severe attack of scarlet fever,
and it was thought that her subsequent
illness was due, in q large measure, to the
after effects of this disease. The first
manifestation was nausea. The stomach
seemed to be so irritable as to be unable to
retain any food save in the smallest guam
tty, TOO small even, If repeatedly given,
to sustain life. Every kind of food was
tried. Sharp pains radiated from the alb
domen in every direction over the body,
and there were many of the symp-
toms of peritonitis, but as the conditions
remained much longer than it would take
for peritonitis to destroy life, this idea
was given up. There was gradual in
crease In the strength and number of the
symptoms, and the life of the girl seemed
! to be slowly eobing away. AS she could
not retain enough food to nourish her
body she lost flesh and strength, and it
was kept up to certain extent by enema.
The bowels became greatly constipated
and could not be affected, save in slight
degree, by purgatives. Her hair fell
| out rapidly, and IN time she became near
| ly bald. A remarkable feature in her con-
dition was the temperature of her body.
II felt like ice to the touch. This was
thought to be due to lack of nourishment.
Artificial heat was applied, but it did not
do much good. The child had q feeling
of hunger all the time, and the sensation
as described by her was thought to be
similar to what is known as gnaWing in
the stomach. She was weary ell the
time and kept up continual movement
and twisting of the body until she became
so weak as to be hardly able to move.
sTIMULANTs WERE USED HYPODERNIC-
ALLY
With good effect. The heart became
very weak, and frequently was little more
than futter Just before her admission
to the hospital an earth-colored worm
was taken from her nostril. 1t was nine
inches long, and evidently came from the
stomach. The following day about forty
small worms were found on the pillow in
the morning where she had slept, and q
number OF the same worms were found
| in her mouth. Emetics were given her,
| but did not seem to get out of the Gsoph-
agus before being elected, and did not
affect the contents of the stomach. She
was given up to die. A spasm was
caused in the Gsophagus by touching 1t.
When brought 10 the hospital her aodo-
men was swollen to twice the normal
size. The swelling seemed to be the
greatest in the region of the stomach,
and the whole body was sore to the
| touch. A tumor was suspected, but II
could not be located. AS last resort it
was determined to open the abdomen for
the purpose of exploration, as this might
throw some light on the subject and give
some hint as to the treatment necessary
Crave fears were entertained that the
child would die under the operation
on account of weakness, but as the
fdfsease was evidently of great
interest to science, and might be cured
SHE WAS LAID ON THE TABLE
and carefully put under the influence Of
ether. An incision about five inches long
was made in the median line near the
navel. The abdominal wall was SO thir
that the knife slipped through before il
was known that it had been penetrated
| but fortunately the bowels were in 8
collapsed state and were not injured
The opening of the abdomen revealed ths
cause of it's enlargement as the swelling
of the stomach. 1t was more than twice
the natural size and presented pecu
liarly notified appearance. 1t could be
easily compressed with the fingers, but
when the pressure was removed it quickly
expanded. 1t was thought TO be filled
with liquid from the sound it gave when
shaken. To remove this an instrument
was sunk in the wall of the stomach
There was no liquid that came out, Oul
there was gas, so rank that to breathe
it would turn the strongest stomach. The
surgeons waited until the flow of gas
ceased, and then went to the patient
again. The size of the stomach was much
reduced. There were
NO EXTERNAL INDICATIONS OF CANCER,
and it was thought there was internal
tumor. A small incision was made 10
the upper portion Of the stomach. Moth
ing could be seen, and it was enlarged.
Then the surgeons were astonished.
There was no tumor, but there was q
wriggling mass of worms, both large and
small. The operating surgeon in
troduced his hand and removed
them as quickly as possible, and
put them in a pint measure.
which was soon filed. At the pyloric ORR
fee worm of extraordinary size was
found. 1t seemed to be fast, and required
something of a pull to get it loose, 1t
was coiled up. In the under side Of the
cell there was large metal button. The
passageway to the duodenum was found
to be clear, and the surgeon introduced
his little finger into it. The opening was
unusually small. The case was then un-
derstood. The button had been wedged
into the pyloris and
THE WORMS
from some cause had been developed in
the stomach and could not get out. The
whole stomach was greatly infamed. 1t
was thoroughly washed out, and the fluid
quickly disappeared into the bowels.
The wound in the stomach was closed
with fine catgut. There was only q
trifing hemorrhage and the abdominal
space was free from liquid.
incicinp WAC